How Piers Morgan made a fortune

In the latest in our series on how celebrities made their money, we profile the earning power of Piers Morgan...

Piers Morgan: With a £4m deal for a new show, he's taking America by storm

Piers Morgan's jump from newspaper editor to TV celebrity has netted him big money. He is now reputedly poised to take over from TV veteran Larry King in the US in a three-year deal reportedly paying him £4m.

The early days

Morgan, who grew up in a village near Lewes in East Sussex, first experienced paid journalism at the tender age of 15 when he wrote a 1,500 word article on his local cricket team's trip to Malta, paying him £15.

After time at boarding school and a comprehensive, Morgan studied journalism at Harlow College. Then, while working on South London newspapers, he was recruited by Kelvin MacKenzie, Editor of The Sun. MacKenzie gave him his own showbiz column 'Bizarre', which still runs today.

Earnings from newspapers

In 1994, aged just 28, he was made Editor of the News of the World, becoming the youngest national newspaper Editor in more than half a century. He estimated to be earning around £140,000 a year.

Less than two years later in 1995, he was headhunted to be the Editor of The Mirror. In 2000, he was reported to be earning between £250,000 and £300,000. By 2002, the salary had reportedly risen to £350,000.

His time there wasn't without financial controversy. He famously bought £67,000-worth of shares in computer company Viglen, which was then tipped in the paper's City Slickers column. He sold the shares and gave the proceeds to charity. He kept his job but the column's authors were fired and one - James Hipwell - went to jail for six months.

He was eventually sacked by The Mirror in 2004 after unwittingly publishing fake pictures of alleged torture of Iraqis by British soldiers

Big money in TV

Newspaper journalism was the warm-up for the financial big-time for Morgan.

He started by co-hosting the current affairs show Morgan & Platell on Channel 4 but soon spotted the opportunity in reality TV.

He has had key roles in various reality TV shows including the US Celebrity Apprentice (which he won) and America's Got Talent. His role as a judge on Britain's Got Talent earned him a two-year £2m-a-year contract. He has also made a series of documentaries for ITV on cities and celebrity lifestyles, had his own confession-style chat show.

His new, more substantial contract with CNN is almost certain to mean he'll leave Britain's Got Talent behind.

It's also worth noting the sizable income from his books. The top seller was The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade, published in 2005. He followed it up with Don't You Know Who I Am?... when he bragged about being paid a £1.2m advance for The Insider.

How he spends it

Piers is as much a celebrity today as those he started harassing years before except he doesn't seem to share the same penchant for blowing cash. His recent wedding to journalist Celia Waldren was refreshingly low-key - and he didn't sell the story and pictures. Although he did later have a star-studded party.

Jetset: Morgan with a private jet on ITV's 'Piers Morgan on Dubai'

He is remarkably good with his money. Among his properties are his half of his parents house in East Sussex, which was valued at around £1.3m in 2008 as well as a studio flat near Chelsea harbour which was valued at £550,000.

And when asked in a Sunday Times interview what his most extravagant purchase was, he replied: 'I spent £10,000 on season tickets at Arsenal's Emirates stadium for me and my three sons. I guess they will cost me at least £500,000 by the time I leave this world because I intend to renew them every year.'

He also stated that he was earning 'a fairly repulsive sum' but paid a fairly repulsive amount of tax. His earnings are supplemented by columns, book deals and even personal appearances. He said: 'I get paid ridiculous amounts of money occasionally to go and make speeches in places like Dubai or Stockholm – up to £50,000 a time, including first class flights and six-star hotels.'

Having reportedly beaten Ryan Seacrest to the sought after Larry King job, despite King himself saying he preferred Seacrest, it's safe to say his earnings power will continue to rise.